Montreal-area woman spends night on blood-soaked mattress in hospital

When Martine Ouellet was admitted to hospital last weekend, the last thing she expected was to spend the night on a stretcher covered in blood.

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The Vaudreuil-Dorion resident was at the Lakeshore General Hospital, located in Pointe-Claire in Montreal’s West Island, for elbow pain caused by calcium deposits.

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“I spent the whole night with my feet soaking in liquid blood. When I realized the next morning, I jumped off the stretcher, my arm still in a lot of pain,” Ouellet told Global News.

“I asked them to analyze the blood on the mattress and on my feet, but they said they couldn’t do that.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I asked them to analyze the blood on the mattress and on my feet, but they said they couldn't do that."

Ouellet tells Global News her entire experience at the hospital went badly, claiming a nurse inserted an intravenous needle, but never hooked it up to the anti-inflammatory and painkillers recommended by the doctor.

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“When they heard me panicking, they hurried to remove the mattress and the sheets without taking care of me,” Ouellet told Global News.

“They didn’t disinfect my feet or inspect them to make sure I didn’t have any open wounds that could have come into contact with the blood. I’m the one who insisted on taking a shower.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "They didn't disinfect my feet or inspect them to make sure I didn't have any open wounds that could have come into contact with the blood. I'm the one who insisted on taking a shower."

She says she left the hospital 21 hours later, only to realize that the nurse had forgotten to take the needle out of her arm.

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“This event is unfortunate, exceptional and unacceptable,” the hospital told Global News.

“Concrete measures have been taken and all the mattresses have been checked.”

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A spokesperson confirmed there is currently an internal investigation underway to make sure this does not happen again.

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Ouellet said she will never return to the Lakeshore Hospital.

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She is awaiting test results for HIV, as well as Hepatitis A and B and more from a CLSC in Île-Perrot.